By Joe Salas Now entering its fourth year, the Uncharted Concert Series at Greenwich House Music School has emerged as one of New York’s most exciting and unpredictable live concert series, drawing attention from tastemakers and curators from across the city. Every Uncharted performance features New York City-based artists premiering new projects or meeting with new collaborators
-
-
The West Village as Muse for an Environmental Artist
By Michael D. Minichiello Even though he loved to draw from an early age, California-born artist Nick Lamia was originally on a very different career path. “I was pre-med in college,” he says. “Then I went into environmental science and ecology, thinking I would go into environmental law. However, on the very day that I
-
Review: Later Life
By Eric Uhlfelder A play about second chances at love sounds full of potential, especially when dealing with middle-aged folks who suffered a missed opportunity three decades earlier. The Keen Company’s revival of A.R. Gurney’s Later Life, which premiered in 1993, is a solid production, featuring screwball interludes by two of the play’s four cast
-
Robert Heide at HOWL! Arts Happening — A Book Launch Celebration
By Robert Heide From Greenwich Village you walk east on Bleecker Street and end up on the Bowery. Think the 19th century popular song The Bowery. “The Bowery…the Bowery…they say such things and they do strange things on the Bowery.” Sammy’s Bowery Follies the showplace tavern is no more nor are the many cheap-end sleaze
-
The 12th Annual Manhattan Film Festival
By Roger Paradiso The 12th annual Manhattan Film Festival will take place April 18-29, 2018. Since 2015 the festival has run concurrently with Tribeca, giving filmmakers an alternative opportunity to screen when the entire industry ascends upon New York City! Every year we pride ourselves in programming a diverse film lineup featuring student, emerging, and
-
Dame Ethel Smyth: Still Fighting for Equality 100 Years Later
By Benjamin McCoy, Nicholas Young, Kate Katigbak, and Jeanne Wikler Over a century ago, British composer Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) created her generation’s version of the Women’s March and #TheFutureIsFemale. Now, more than 100 years later, the Cecilia Chorus of New York will give Smyth’s last work, The Prison, its North American premiere on May
-
New Music Studio on Charles
The first things you see when you walk into Hannah Reimann’s studio are a tall bookshelf filled with Classical piano and vocal music scores and a lovely walnut Steinway Grand Piano. Beneath the piano there are Tibetan singing bowls, cushions for sitting and hand percussion instruments stored inside a large wooden bowl. Asian prints hang
-
Jefferson Market Library Lecture Series
By Mike Isaacson PhD Following the Second World War, fascism became a universally acknowledged vanquished foe in the public psyche. Fascism, and especially its rapacious offspring Nazism, was the metric against which political evil was measured with comparisons drawn to various aspects of communist and capitalist states alike. Nearly 70 years later, this supposed vanquished
-
Defining Wisdom (excerpted fromThe Pursuit of Wisdom, Introduction)
By Dean Chavooshian After centuries of guidance, scientific discoveries and philosophical inquiries, man is empowered more than ever to address the fundamental question: With all the wisdom we have gained through the ages, how can we live a fulfilling and meaningful life? Of all human pursuits, defining wisdom is one of our most elusive endeavors.
-
5Pointz Decision, Part 2: The Tuesday Morning Massacre
By Catherine Revland On March 14th, the lecture room at the National Arts Club on Gramercy Park South was packed with artists, attorneys, curators, art dealers, critics, and historians to hear a discussion about the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA).The speakers were Federal District Court Judge Frederic Block (who spoke to the broader subject of
-
Musings and Personal Remembrances on the Music of the April Concert
By Michael Feldman In July 1956, I was a 17 year old graduate of Music and Arts High School, a not bad clarinet player and a fledgling conductor of minimal skills and no training. When the grownup conductor at Music Trails Camp, Lake Placid took ill, I raised my hand, when asked the obvious question
-
Arlene Gottfried’s “KISS, Halloween Parade, West Village, 1978”
Arlene Gottfried’s artistic legacy continues in a solo exhibition entitled “A Lifetime Of Wandering,” which is on view from February 28th to April 28th at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in Chelsea. Gottfried, a longtime resident of Westbeth, passed away in August of 2017. Her photography is best known for its humorous and empathetic views of
-
From TAKI 123 to High Art: The 5Pointz Decision (Part 1)
By Catherine Revland Last month, when the art world learned that Federal District Court Judge Frederic Block had awarded maximum damages totaling $6.7 million to 21 aerosol artists whose work had been destroyed by a developer, the response was laudatory: “This will change perceptions of an art form for generations to come;” “A milestone for
-
New Exhibition by Nick Lamia
This piece is based on a press release published by Jason McCoy Gallery on February 23, 2018. Nick Lamia lived at 54 Charles Street and studied at the New York Studio School. He currently teaches at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
-
Great American Playwright Maria Irene Fornes
A New Documentary Captures Her Incredible Journey from Cuba to Paris to a Life in Greenwich Village By Robert Heide I first met the playwright extraordinaire Maria Irene Fornes in the Village in 1965 at the Caffe Cino on Cornelia Street where my play The Bed was having a successful run. She was introduced to
-
Audio-Peek
By Roberta Curley I hear everything but the breathing— the irregular thumps the floorboard thud the squeaks signaling the creaks the twisting coils and I know #2B is embroiled in something familiar. When silence settles and envy subsides, I whisper-wish them well praying that someday I will sigh myself to sleep listening only to
-
Acclaim from Sarah Jessica Parker
Actress and West Village resident Sarah Jessica Parker provided the comments below following the February 10th concert at St. Veronica, which she attended. The content has been edited by WestView News. It’s funny that George thinks he needs an introduction, only because I feel like everyone in this community knows him. I think he’s sort
-
Staring Into Space
By Roberta Curley We boogied on my Dad’s porch. I whooped out karaoke to Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.” My boyfriend Guy preferred crooning Elvis. He begged me: “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear.” I pleaded: “Chill, Guy. I’m capturing the sky.” My blue sky was lined with puffy, white parallelograms. Who knew this
-
NYC Annual Cat PURRRTY Revisited
By SuZen Some 30-plus years ago, my love affair with cats began with a Siamese cat named Sushi, whose life changed mine and fostered my exploration into the world of cats. As chronicled in my book, The Love Story of Sushi and Sashimi: A Cat Tale (published by Capri Press), Sushi meets and falls in
-
Goodbye Bette! Hello Bernadette!
Two Village Girls Who Made it Big on Broadway By Robert Heide In summing up the 2017 Broadway theater season, Michael Riedel in his New York Post article, entitled “A Sure Bette” (dated December 29, 2017), cites Hello Dolly! as the top, hot ticket of the year. He writes about producer Scott Rudin and director
-
Theater Company Ars Nova Finds New Home in Greenwich Village
By Joe Salas Following a year-long search, Ars Nova has been selected by Greenwich House as its new partner and operator of the historic, 199-seat Greenwich House Theater located on the ground floor of Greenwich House’s 27 Barrow Street building. In addition to operating and filling the beloved venue with new work by its emerging
-
Italytime to Present Three Eyes on Pinocchio
By Jane Heil Usyk In March 2018, the cultural organization Italytime will present a theatrical piece called Three Eyes on Pinocchio—an Italian story updated by three prominent writers. It will be presented in English in the downstairs area of Our Lady of Pompeii Church. (That space has been transformed into an attractive, elegant area with
-
Hindle Wakes at The Mint Theater Company
By Eric Uhlfelder It’s hard to understand the puritanical mindset prevalent only a century ago. But one can imagine its appeal: a simple way of bringing order to a chaotic world by making clear distinctions between right and wrong. Of course, things are rarely black and white, and trying to treat all problems that way
-
Walk Into The Temple of Understanding
By George Capsis Dusty floats in the infinite, spiritual dimension so when we began talking about how to use the Church of St. Veronica—a 115-year-old, very dead church—she took me to a meeting of The Temple of Understanding, just opposite the United Nations Headquarters. There, a Buddhist priest got up in saffron robes to begin
-
In Search of Meaningful Beauty
By Rob Russell The sounds of Mozart and Vivaldi brilliantly executed by the most artful of musicians. A 115-year-old building, resplendent with both Gothic Revival and Victorian touches. Hundreds of people from all walks of life gathered together for something bigger than themselves. To think of the past two concerts at St. Veronica’s, only one
-
Supporting Music at St. Veronica
Dear Editors: The initiation of Music at St. Veronica is a glorious idea, and a critically needed series. There was a time when our musical superstars included the likes of Horowitz, Toscanini, Heifetz, or Menuhin—names that have long since faded. Some, such as Bernstein, still resonate with an ever-diminishing circle of admirers. The great composers
-
Preparing for Parish Closures and Mergers in New York City
What is remarkable about the following article, written by Jamie L. Manson in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR), “Preparing for Parish Closures and Mergers in New York City,” is the publication date—January 29, 2014—because the article could have been written this morning. Manson’s article is about the closing of Catholic churches in New York and
-
Music I Grew Up With… and Starting A-Fresh:
A Primer for the February Concert at St. Veronica By Michael Feldman When I was a young lad, just getting my feet wet in the enormous repertoire of classical music, I recall my first expedition to the Sam Goody record shop. (Was it on 49th Street?) To this day, I remember the recordings I picked
-
Corrections
Within the December 2017 issue of WestView, the date referenced in the article entitled “Act of Faith” (November 23rd) was incorrect (page 1). The correct date of the concert is November 25th. Within the December 2017 issue of WestView, the author of the expanded caption entitled “New York Baroque Incorporated to Perform at St. Veronica’s”
-
Can a Landmarked Church Be Turned Into Condos?
Hi, Andrew. I know this happens. I know of two examples. But I don’t know exactly how a developer can fill a landmarked church exterior with condos, even though it’s been done. Do you have knowledge of this? I am writing an article for WestView on the conversion of St. Veronica into a concert hall.
-
Local Production Supports Core NYC Charity
By Charles Warburton In early December 2017, Paired Entertainment, a small production company run by Charles Warburton and Molly Montgomery, took on a different project than usual—a production of A Delicate Ship by Anna Ziegler. The company began planning the transformation of Industria Studios on West 12th Street from a loft warehouse into a cozy
-
-
Journey to Forgiveness
By Gayle Kirschenbaum Did you ever feel like you were born into the wrong family? I did. From head to toe, there wasn’t anything right about me. My nose was too big, my butt too fat, and my hair too frizzy. According to my mother, I couldn’t do anything right and my brothers couldn’t do
-
An Excerpt from Robert Heide 25 Plays
The following piece is a slightly edited excerpt from one of the dozen new essays written by Robert Heide and included in his new book, Robert Heide 25 Plays. In November 1976, the Theater for the New City announced “A Unique and Amazing Two-Week Festival – Village Writers on the Village – to commemorate the
-
My Brief Encounter with Jeanne Moreau
By Allyn Freeman It was the day after Thanksgiving in 1963. I waited in the Cannes airport to board a late afternoon flight to Paris where I worked for an American company. At the newsstand, I bought Le Figaro. Rather than circle around the woman standing between me and the International Herald Tribune, I reached
-
No Wonder WNYC is a Nonprofit
By George Capsis Oh my, there is nothing so heart-rending as discovering that an old friend has been deceiving you for years and is not the person you thought he or she was. That happened when I read the Times on Saturday, December 23rd and learned that Laura Walker, the head of WNYC for 20
-
We Need Our Own Andrew Carnegie
By George Capsis On December 23rd, WestView gave another concert, our second at St. Veronica. Despite the rain, you came and again in great numbers and filled all the seats in the main sanctuary. Some had to again climb into the balcony—a full house! There is no doubt now that superb classical music played by
-
Recalling the Good/Bad Old Days
Dear Editors: Reading the beautiful, young Catherine Revland’s creepy experience with the repulsive Gene P. was another reminder of those good/bad old days of ‘dirty old men’ and show biz ‘casting couches’ of which my generation had always been aware. Such conditions were taken for granted as hazards of the trade (you should pardon the
